Charles Jenkins, a former American soldier who defected across the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea in 1965 and was held by the totalitarian regime for 40 years, died in Japan on Monday at the age of 77. Jenkins, who was freed in 2004, had lived on Sado Island with his wife, a Japanese woman named Hitomi Soga who herself was kidnapped by North Korea and forced to teach her language to Pyongyang’s spies. Jenkins’ death was first reported by Kyodo News and Japan’s NHK broadcaster, who said the cause was heart failure.

President Trump lashed out Tuesday at Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is calling for his resignation over the multiple allegations of sexual assault against him. “Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office ‘begging’ for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump,” the president wrote on Twitter. Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump.

Sarah Illig’s dream honeymoon in the Bahamas turned out to be a nightmare after she was bitten by a shark. The 25-year-old Charleston, South Carolina woman was vacationing with new hubby Evan Carroll at an attraction that allows guests to swim with sharks.

Crews battling wildfires ravaging southern California for a week have managed to slow the spread of the worst of the blazes, officials said Tuesday, as residents were taking stock of the catastrophic damage. Evacuation orders were in place for threatened areas in the Santa Barbara region about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Los Angeles. Nearly 6,400 firefighters have been toiling for a week against blazes fueled by bone dry conditions and powerful winds.

A woman who drank multiple shots of liquor and smoked marijuana on the night of her infant son's death was ordered Wednesday to serve 13 years in prison. A judge imposed the sentence on Miranda Hopkins, 32, of Troy, a month after she was convicted of manslaughter in Waldo County Superior Court. Justice Robert Murray cited her refusal to accept responsibility and attempts to place blame on her sons, who are now living with their father, during the sentencing hearing.

The U.S. Congress will allow a deadline on reimposing sanctions on Iran to pass this week, congressional and White House aides said on Tuesday, leaving a pact between world powers and Tehran intact at least temporarily. In October, Trump declined to certify that Iran was complying with the nuclear agreement reached among Tehran, the United States and others in 2015. Congressional leaders have announced no plans to introduce a resolution to reimpose sanctions before Wednesday's deadline and aides say lawmakers will let the deadline pass without action.

A team of researchers, including Stephen Hawking, is investigating whether the first known object from outside the solar system contains the first sign of life beyond our planet. Using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, scientists with the 100 million dollar research project Breakthrough Listen will observe an asteroid named 'Oumuamua for 10 hours on Wednesday. 'Oumuamua, formally known as 1I/2017 U1, is the first object discovered in the solar system that appears to originate from another star system.

Mario Batali, who stepped down from his restaurant group on Monday after four women accused him of sexual misconduct, spoke out in support of women’s equality at an event in October.
While speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, the celebrity

President Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, accused Russia on Tuesday of waging “campaigns of subversion” against the United States and its allies. McMaster also announced that Trump would unveil his first formal National Security Strategy on Dec. 18.

For many in the state, the special election has become a way to project a message to the rest of the nation on what Alabama is. Supporters of Democrat Doug Jones want to shed the stereotype of Alabama as a stagnant backwater. Jones is best known for his work as a U.S. attorney in the 1990s, prosecuting Ku Klux Klan members for blowing up a black church in 1963.

If you thought buying a gift for dad was hard enough, try finding the perfect present for a teen. With something new catching their eye every day, it’s almost impossible to nail down an item that won’t go out of style next week. We know they’re obsessed

An out-of-control California wildfire that has already destroyed nearly 700 homes in its path of destruction crept closer to the upscale hillside community of Montecito on Tuesday despite calmer winds that slowed its progress. The Thomas Fire, which broke out on Dec. 4 near the community of Ojai, has since traveled 27 miles (43 km) to become the fifth-largest blaze in state history. It has blackened more than 366 square miles (948 square kilometers) in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, an area larger than New York City.

Olympian Oscar Pistorius, in jail for murdering his girlfriend, was bruised in an altercation with another inmate over telephone use, a South African prison spokesman confirmed Tuesday. Pistorius sustained a minor injury in an alleged assault at the Attridgevill Correctional Centre last week, Singabakho Nxumalo of the Department of Correctional Services told The Associated Press. Pistorius had a medical checkup and was found to have a bruise, said Nxumalo, who added that the incident is being investigated.

The fundraising page for the bullied child whose tearful video about being taunted by fellow pupils went viral has been frozen after his mother was accused of racism. Keaton Jones, from Knoxville, Tennessee, garnered widespread sympathy after his mother Kimberly filmed him tearfully asking why he is the target of school bullies.

Until Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Jose Figueroa did brisk business renting kayaks to tourists itching to see a lagoon that lights up by night thanks to millions of microorganisms. "We do not know if we will have any work tonight," Figueroa said.

Thomas Buergenthal, a law professor who served for a decade as an International Court of Justice judge, said a new report he helped write documenting atrocities in North Korea’s prisons shows the Kim regime may be “even worse” than Nazis. Buergenthal is an author of a report published Tuesday by the International Bar Association, "Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korean Political Prisons.” It documents atrocities inside the country’s prisons, where an estimated 80,000 to 130,000 people are being held.

During her daily briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Trump against criticism that a tweet he wrote suggesting that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would “do anything” for donations was inappropriate sexual innuendo. “This is the same sentiment that the president has expressed many times before when he has exposed the corruption of the entire political system,” Sanders said. Trump sent the tweet in question on Tuesday morning, a day after Gillibrand said he should resign over multiple allegations of sexual assault that have been made against him.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee died early Tuesday, ending a decades-long career in city politics and activism and sending shockwaves across the city. Lee, 65, was the city’s first Asian-American mayor. Board of Supervisors President London Breed will become acting mayor, effective immediately, but the board may vote to replace her at any time. The city will hold an election on June 5 to name a mayor to finish out Lee’s term.

A woman who had dozens of filthy and sick Great Danes living in her New Hampshire mansion was found guilty Tuesday of 10 animal cruelty charges. Eighty-four dogs were seized from Christina Fay's Wolfeboro home in June. "The conditions in which these dogs were kept constitutes cruelty" under the law, Judge Charles Greenhalgh wrote.

Two women ― one white and one black ― were the last candidates standing in an extremely contentious election to succeed Mayor Kasim Reed. It feels like some white people have a fear of being verbally pounced on for saying something awkward.

Chinese authorities have collected DNA and other biometric data from the whole population of the volatile western region of Xinjiang, Human Right Watch said on Wednesday, denouncing the campaign as a gross violation of international norms. Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in the past few years in violence between Uighurs, a mostly Muslim people, and ethnic majority Han Chinese, which Beijing blames on Islamist militants. Police are responsible for collecting pictures, fingerprints, iris scans and household registration information, while health authorities should collect DNA samples and blood type information as part of a "Physicals for All" program, the New York-based group said in a statement, citing government a document.

A Delta Air Lines plane nearly landed on a taxiway that was occupied by another plane at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, federal accident investigators said Wednesday. The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation into the Nov. 29 incident. Delta flight 2196 had been cleared to land and initially lined up with a runway, but about a mile from the airport the plane began to veer left and lined up with a taxiway where another Delta plane was waiting, according to a preliminary report by the board.